Series? Seriously, I said series?

So. I'm absolutely awful on the follow through. (thank you Matt Westermayer).

Let me clarify. In my last blog post... I stated "I'm going to do a series of blogs..." which actually meant... I'm going to write one blog... and then by the time I get around to writing another one i'm going to be caught up in a different issue, and blog about that.

Sorry about the confusion...


ANYWAYS. I've been thinking a lot about "Christians" or this idea that we call "Christianity". Somewhere in this thought process I realized when I hear the word "Christian" I imagine a group of people that have met these certain "un-written requirements", not someone who is believes in God. Here are some of the examples I thought of when brainstorming the word "Christian"...

1. Someone who without hesitation can complete the phrase, "and all God's people said...."

2. Someone who no longer talks about culture... but now refers to "the culture".

3. Someone who takes these perfect reflected images of God, known as their family, and compresses them into a few 3x3 inch pieces of cheap plastic cut into fish shapes and slaps them on the back end of their mini-van.

4. Someone who can translate any two of the following acronyms... NLT, KJV, WWJD, or NIV.

5. Someone who has logged more hours in a church building than they have spent:
A. actually reading their bible OR B. investing time into cultivating their relationships with people

6. Someone who can take offense to the last five points and/or have done/or could answer any of the last five points.

SO you ask where I'm going with this... I hate that a word that is supposed to DESCRIBE who I am... now DEFINES who I am. I hate having to answer the question... "are you a Christian?" with yes... I believe in God... but i'm not like those religions you hear about. Since when did the term "Christian" turn into a definition of someone who idolizes man-made worship practices, and not someone who just simply... loves God. After my past few sentences... I feel bad even capitalizing the word "christian", as if I can sum up my relationship with God into two syllables.

What are some words/phrases you think of when you hear the word "Christian"? And SIDE-NOTE... this isn't about bashing... because I had to answer yes to more of those points than I wanted to. I just want to know when did I miss the big memo that said "Christians are now defined by WHAT they do, not WHO they do it for."

I'm done being a stereotype.

World Changers

Once upon a time there was a generation who changed the face of Christianity.

I've decided to do a set of blog posts about the one thing I feel God has given me a gift with... and that's evangelism. Although when I just typed that word a small shudder went down my back, because when I hear the word evangelism... I, like most people, imagine this right-winged, finger-pointing, being who believes that our world is ONLY full of sin and we must repent now to see the glory of heaven.

BUT i'm about to turn the tables.

Before I can get into the heart that I have for lost people, I have to address my audience. This first blog post will hopefully be an awakening to your potential. Most Christians I know have a hard time swallowing the idea of stepping out of the "comfort zone" and being... well... like Jesus.

The way Jesus approached the idea of 'loving people' would be equivalent to your entire church body watching you walk into a 'novelty' store. (aka. adult gift store). I can feel the humiliation and condemnation from people without actually experiencing it. But that's what Jesus did. Jesus walked straight into that adult store and proclaimed love. You can see this in action when Jesus walks straight through Samaria, the place known for its pagan and promiscuous culture.

We are living in a pagan and promiscuous culture NOW... but where are our 'Christians' walking?

So before I can continue my blogs on evangelism... we've got to walk into Samaria. Or at least take a step toward that area. We have to swallow our pride, pick up our Christian stereotypes and not be afraid to launch ourselves into something bigger.

The first jump is always the hardest.

So I leave you with this.



To church leaders and Christians who have enough missional courage to do whatever it takes to escape the Christian subculture and be citizens of the kingdom rather than citizens of the bubble.[JOHN 17:15].

*scripture quote from "They like Jesus but not the Church" by Dan Kimball.